The War on Disabled People is an Invitation to Fight Back

[RaeUK]

Ah, yes. How could I possibly have forgotten our friendly bank managers? The skint government still found £456bn in recent years to bail them out.

Putting that last figure in a little perspective: that's equivalent to paying 253,333 people £30k per year, every year, for 60 years. Yep, we're skint!

[Lilly_Monroe]

Ah, yes. How could I possibly have forgotten our friendly bank managers? The skint government still found £456bn in recent years to bail them out.

Putting that last figure in a little perspective: that's equivalent to paying 253,333 people £30k per year, every year, for 60 years. Yep, we're skint!

 

Yes, but that is irrelevant:-x as far as the likes of us, we are skint - makes no odds what we say or do.

Accept when their is money to be found - then that is different, its us they target.

[down'n'out]

People on benefits will be targeted again in drive to make £27bn savings to spare government departments, says thinktank

 

Fresh curbs on welfare spending for those hit hardest by George Osborne's autumn statement will be needed to spare Whitehall departments from the full impact of £27bn in savings needed in the next phase of the government's eight-year austerity programme, Britain's leading experts on the public finances have warned.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/dec/06/welfare-cuts-public-sector-ifs

[RaeUK]

Yes, but that is irrelevant:-x as far as the likes of us, we are skint - makes no odds what we say or do...

 

Not irrelevant in context of the government claiming to be skint, forcing savage cuts on the least able but still finding £bns for foibles. There is an argument that states a population gets the government it deserves ...

[down'n'out]

Unfortunately, we do not have a Government for the people, we have politicians at the behest of corporations/Banks

[jadeybags]

This bit is my fave..

It is a riff on his “all in it together” theme, something that really doesn’t work when you look at the expenses he and other MPs claim, and the amount of booze he manages to imbibe while he plays fruit ninja and leaves his children to fend for themselves in pubs.

[geoffthechef]

Want to see where this is going? Watch this world in action documentary from 1980 that describes the absolute poverty of the times..The story is called on the scrap heap about people who have to get stuff from the tip to survive..we are going back to those days and i really fear for what is happening now and will happen to people after april 2013,,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1H5tfUOYBYWatch this as it is a shocker

Edited December 6, 2012 by geoffthechef

[jadeybags]

lol @ the rich volunteering more, the posts on my facebook say it all, the better off moaning about their child benefit going, their tax going up. They have zero sympathy for the economy...

[Crazy Diamond]

I'm sorry, are people still believing the Tory propaganda that this country is broke? The UK, 7th richest country in the world? THIS country?

 

Oh dear.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ramesh-patel/growth-cameron-austerity_b_2007552.html

 

Wake up, folks.

[Crazy Diamond]

If you personally were in charge.. how would you be sorting out this mess ?

 

That's a very easy one: 1st, close the tax loopholes.

 

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2012/02/29/why-is-the-sun-prioritising-benefit-fraud-when-the-tax-gap-is-100-times-bigger/

 

The TJN estimate over £120 billion of taxes are undercollected through evasion and avoidance annually.

 

Secondly - no more career politicians, who become MPs because they're too inept to do any other paid job. If you want to be in politics, you do because you want to better the country, so a living wage, end all the allowances and perks gravy train. No more second mortgages or subsidised £100 wine bottles. Instead, like in Sweden (I think), block of studio flats within walking distance of the Houses to use by MPs during their stay on government business within the capital. Reasonable travel allowance for constituency business, that's fair.

 

Thirdly: Re-nationalise utility companies. They don't have to make a loss, contrary to myth.

 

Back to tax avoiders: If you don't like paying taxes like the rest of us, that's fine, feel free to leave the country. But don't think you're taking your assets, factories or whatever with you, You want to leave, I won't stop you, but you made your fortune in THIS country, out of THESE workers, using THIS infrastructure, enjoyed the political stability of THIS place, you can bloody well leave that behind for others who do want to make a success of the UK not just bleed it dry.

 

How's that for a start?

 

@speedfreek:

Gordon Brown was infatuated by statistics! All the measurable outcome n variences (no they're not targets) all labour!

You misunderstand me. Statistics are one thing, the drive to remove as many disabled as possible from the benefits are another. I am not denying that Labour introduced the tests, but I have yet to see any evidence that their aim was to scythe off thousands of people off their lifelines, unlike the proven figures we are seeing increasing weekly under the aptly-named ConDems.

[down'n'out]

Wake up, folks.

 

A lot will leave it too late.

 

The Politicians will simply continue to blame shift, and protect the corporations/banks (the top 1% / financiers/investors).

If anyone as the time, you may find this article interesting:- http://theendisalwaysnear.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-hazardous-morals-of-bankers.html

[dasis16]

2 - Get EVERY SINGLE person you know who's disabled to write to Ed Milliband and make it clear that they will only vote for Labour if he undertakes to scrap the Welfare Reform Act and all the satellite legislation that goes with it.

 

Would anyone be willing to help me write/draft a letter? I'd love to contribute, but honestly I'm not sure where I would begin. All I really know is I'm angry at the current government.

[Crazy Diamond]

Would anyone be willing to help me write/draft a letter? I'd love to contribute, but honestly I'm not sure where I would begin. All I really know is I'm angry at the current government.

 

Gladly... but it will have to be tomorrow, I should be in bed!

[RaeUK]

... Secondly - no more career politicians, who become MPs because they're too inept to do any other paid job. If you want to be in politics, you do because you want to better the country, so a living wage, end all the allowances and perks gravy train. No more second mortgages or subsidised £100 wine bottles. Instead, like in Sweden (I think), block of studio flats within walking distance of the Houses to use by MPs during their stay on government business within the capital. Reasonable travel allowance for constituency business, that's fair.

 

Thirdly: Re-nationalise utility companies. They don't have to make a loss, contrary to myth.

 

Back to tax avoiders: If you don't like paying taxes like the rest of us, that's fine, feel free to leave the country. But don't think you're taking your assets, factories or whatever with you, You want to leave, I won't stop you, but you made your fortune in THIS country, out of THESE workers, using THIS infrastructure, enjoyed the political stability of THIS place, you can bloody well leave that behind for others who do want to make a success of the UK not just bleed it dry.

 

How's that for a start? ...

 

Excellent. I'd vote for the Crazy Diamond Party ...

[antone]

Before I had the joy and privilege of working for the DWP, I worked for DfID. That was also a wonderful experience.

 

Anyhow, the UK currently spends around 0.6% (three fifths of one percent) of its total National Income (roughly speaking, tax raised and Treasury bonds issued) on overseas aid. If we're broke (and we're not, I assure you) it ain't because we're giving all our money away to foreigners.

 

What we have is a weird situation where our government seems to be acting against our best interests. I don't actually believe that this is malicious, I think it's merely indifferent. The problem our economy faces is, fundamentally, a lack of demand - since lots of people have no money. Screwing over benefit claimants and making them scapegoats for all the perceived ills of our society isn't helping, and neither is laying off government workers and freezing pay for those who are lucky enough to keep their jobs. It wasn't benefit claimants or low-paid civil servants who created this mess.

 

I like to think the best of people, even my political opponents. But in this case, I don't see how I can. Enacting policies that shrink the economy in a time where the lack of demand is the major problem we face? It's just callous.

[down'n'out]

Anyhow, the UK currently spends around 0.6% (three fifths of one percent) of its total National Income (roughly speaking, tax raised and Treasury bonds issued) on overseas aid. If we're broke (and we're not, I assure you) it ain't because we're giving all our money away to foreigners.

 

But I am sure the current (approx) £9 billion could be better placed here at the moment. (IMHO)

 

UK budget for overseas aid:-

£8.4bn(Billion) in 2010

£8.7bn in 2011

£9.1bn in 2012

£12bn by 2013

£12.6bn by 2014

[antone]

But I am sure the current (approx) £9 billion could be better placed here at the moment. (IMHO)

 

UK budget for overseas aid:-

£8.4bn(Billion) in 2010

£8.7bn in 2011

£9.1bn in 2012

£12bn by 2013

£12.6bn by 2014

 

My understanding is that your figures are more or less correct, increasing aid spending to the target to which the Government has committed, which is 0.7% of GNI. Seriously, this is a non-issue. We spend less than many countries which have weathered the storm better than we have.

 

Also bear in mind that foreign aid spending is not generally altruistic. Oh sure, some small amount is spent on disaster relief like famine in Africa or the SE Asian Tsunami, and personally I think that's fine. But for the most part, aid is offered to develop and support British markets, and to foster goodwill towards us in the hope that any future business might come our way.

 

The figures, of course, could be easily covered by fully collecting the taxes avoided by just one or two of our major corporations. That's even achievable, if our officials want it to happen, and the added advantage is that we wouldn't have to make ourselves international pariahs in the process. Because that sure as heck wouldn't help our economy.

[RaeUK]

So, simply by reducing the overseas aid budget to the 2010 level, we could eradicate the need for any cuts in any benefit to the disabled and long term sick ...

[down'n'out]

My understanding is that your figures are more or less correct, increasing aid spending to the target to which the Government has committed, which is 0.7% of GNI. Seriously, this is a non-issue.

 

But the Government keep pushing forward how the spending on unemployment benefit is getting out of control, costing far too much, and that cost is what, approx 5-6 billion?. Certainly less that what is spent on overseas aid.

How many hundreds of thousand in this country being forced to food-banks will it need, before proper aid is given to them?

[antone]

So, simply by reducing the overseas aid budget to the 2010 level, we could eradicate the need for any cuts in any benefit to the disabled and long term sick ...

 

No, it doesn't work like that. We give overseas aid so that people will like us and spend money in our country. That sounds crass, but international politics often is - we don't offer this aid because we're nice people (although I like to think that we are) but because it is beneficial to us. A lot of it is "tied" aid anyhow - it's given on condition that it is spent with UK businesses.

 

In short, it's a red herring, a distraction. It's a tiny amount of money, as is the amount to be saved by cuts in benefits. We can afford all of this, and easily - benefits and foreign aid. But our lords and masters have chosen Standards and Poors over us. And like the chumps we are, we fuss over aid, and ignore the elephant in the room: the rich are getting richer on the backs of the poor. Which might be just about OK if the rich were prepared to pay their taxes but, of course, they are not.

[antone]

But the Government keep pushing forward how the spending on unemployment benefit is getting out of control, costing far too much, and that cost is what, approx 5-6 billion?. Certainly less that what is spent on overseas aid.

How many hundreds of thousand in this country being forced to food-banks will it need, before proper aid is given to them?

 

You're assuming good faith. Yes, we could cut foreign aid and for about one year we might manage to cover our JSA costs. After that, well, we'll have screwed up our economy further simply because we won't be doing what other, more humane, nations do and the rest of the world will notice. Let's face it, we are very wealthy - perhaps the sixth or seventh richest nation on the face of the Earth. This idea that we can't afford benefits or foreign aid is simply a political canard.

 

Divide and rule. Apparently it works.

[down'n'out]

You're assuming good faith.

 

These days, I assume nothing!!

 

This idea that we can't afford benefits or foreign aid is simply a political canard.

That is not something I have ever needed to assume.

[fightingback99]

The thing that worries me is lack of jobs that pay more than NMW and lack of any real growth. There's too many NMW and part time jobs,. With the result we now have too many familes in work who require housing benefit to keep a roof over their head. While the large corporations make a hefty profit and shareholder dividends which they then move overseas.

 

Too many households now totally dependant on the government for some sort of tax credits to stay afloat in amongst rising living costs, whether in work or not. While landlords make a nice a profit for themselves. The divide between the have and ahve nots is rapidly widening. And the government now has too much power in many ways over dependant individual's.

 

And no one in any government party has the first idea of how to fix this, or if it will ever change. That's if they ever want it to. Why not just have a compliant dependant nation who do as they're told or face real hardship? So the best we can maybe look at is total stagnation and more of the same to come for possibly years to come. .

[antone]

These days, I assume nothing!!

 

That is not something I have ever needed to assume.

 

On the first point, your insight serves you well

 

On the second, the reason I object when people bring up foreign aid is that it does immeasurable good for our country, and costs virtually nothing. Various major companies have avoided UK tax, and I'd rather that £8bn went to helping folks in poor nations than going to pay Vodafone's tax bill. The problem isn't that we pay a little bit of money to developing economies in the hope that they'll buy our stuff. The problem is that our very rich leaders keep telling us that we're broke. It's a lie.

[Surfer01]

What about our borrowing costs? From whom are we borrowing this money? How much do we pay back each year? In overseas aid we give away a couple billion, but how much do we give to the EU each year? At the moment we are at 22nd with our GDP which indicates we are near the bottom of the pile in relation to developed economies. This link shows you a breakdown of our spending with public pensions being the highest. Also makes interesting reading when you click on some of the links in it.